Firstly...are you sure they are jarrah and not som other more exotic timber? If you are fortunate enough to have a genuine 1932 built cottage I say "Don't Do it!" Just look at the beautiful timber in that floor! It would be sinful to paint it. I have a 1924 cottage with beautiful hoop pine floorboards all from the day it was built. My suggestion is to have the boards sanded and polished. I would not even dare go near them with polyurethane. I have turned back the clock and used the methods of the period of the house...a mix of pale boiled linseed oil and kero. Put it on with a mop or a deck mop or a wool mop leave it soak in. Re-do and leave it soak in,,,( you won't get patches...the floors will just soak it up.) Third coat, add a bit of turps to the mix as a white ant deterrent. Then, when the floors look like they've soaked up enough, get a big old fashioned string mop...if you can find one...or use a deck scrubber and old towels...or even a wad of new ones...100% cotton...its worth it, and rub off as much of the surplus as possible...wear sox so you will notice when the sox do not get oil stained anymore. First go is a long process but you will be really pleased when the floors have had several "drinks". After that you could get just an ordinary floor varnish or oil or just a sealant. Some of the modern wood treatments are really good. Then, every so often do the boards over with your "Oil Mop". You will never find timber like that again and, in my experience, it adds to the value of the house big time. Do what you like to any gyprock and plastered walls but PLEASE love your floorboards and any natural timber...especially from that era. I've been in this old cottage for 32 years. Everyone wants to know where I sourced the "new" floorboards", and who did I get to make my silky oak windows! Hope that helps.

Thanks for the feedback all... Here are some samples and it just shows how important to see them in the actual environment. Looks a little too dark even with a lot of light the longer plank is embelton brand and the other two are colonial quickstep. The two darker boards are already showing the hand prints. The embelton board (Belmont dark) was slightly cheaper albeit they had a special on that coloured board, so it should come in around $32 Sqm for the different colours. I'm almost sold on embelton as the look and feel is more advanced to the colonial. I'd love to go with real timber but this isn't my dream house, plus I have concerns that it would be truly appreciated based on the area I live. I'm aiming for a hybrid coastal look and just finished the walls in antique hamptons, so re painting in the short term isn't desired. In the pics the Belfort dark looks fantastic c but maybe I aim for La Mancha or maple in the embelton range

Yes, it does come down to personal taste, but the overall look of your initial kitchen that has the concrete look tiles is beautiful. It would appeal to a wider audience too I think than the navy blue. If you concrete look tiles looked like those in the picture it would look great (as compared to a more matt look concrete tile which may not look as good). I say no to the herringbone look timber in your whole place downstairs. It will probably cost more to lay and I think it adds complexity that you don't need in a home as beautiful as an old queenslander. If you do decide on timber, I would stick with it being just straight planks. (Herringbone is flavour of the month now and I love it for tiles, but it makes a very big statement that not appeal to everyone if you are putting it in a much bigger area like kitchen etc). Good luck.

Hi Fivedock If you're using a tile that looks like timber I think you would be best using the same tile from the front entry throughout. However if you used a tile that looked like stone or concrete in the kitchen/ back area for example, you could possibly use another that looked like timber in the front entry/ living room with fireplace. Or vice versa. This only works because you have a contrast between stone and timber and there's a reasonable demarcation between the living room with the fireplace and the back area. It looks terrible if you have two different timber tiles or two different stone tiles.